Researchers from UC San Diego conducted research analyzing how plants have responded to elevated CO2 levels, which is a serious issue despite efforts from a number of countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the past few years.
The study, "Carbonic Anhydrases, EPF2 and a Novel Protease Mediate CO2 Control of Stomatal Development," was published on Sunday in the journal Nature. The biologists' research yielded a new discovery that is expected to provide agricultural scientists with new tools to help cope with droughts and high temperatures during harvest season.
What was considered a long-standing mystery, the UC San Diego biologists discovered the way that plants reduce the number of their breather pores in response to the increasing carbon dioxide levels. A new genetic pathway was found when the biologists were studying a diverse range of plant species. This pathway is made up of four genes from three different gene families that control the density of the plants' breathing pores, otherwise known as "stomata."
"For each carbon dioxide molecule that is incorporated into plants through photosynthesis, plants lose about 200 hundred molecules of water through their stomata," explains Julian Schroeder, one of the lead researchers, in this UC San Diego press release. "The reduction in the numbers of stomatal pores decreases the ability of plants to cool their leaves during a heat wave via water evaporation. Less evaporation adds to heat stress in plants, which ultimately affects crop yield."
The California Department of Food and Agriculture reported on a study conducted by researchers at UC Davis that focused on the economic impact of the droughts in California's Central Valley. They found that the agriculture industry will suffer $1.7 billion in losses and over 14,500 job losses due to a dramatic decrease in irrigation water, contributing to abandoned farmland and a loss of crops. The Central Valley provides the most fruits, vegetables, and nuts in the United States.
But the findings of the UC San Diego study are expected to help agricultural engineers better understand the responses of plants and crops to increasing CO2 levels, which result in droughts and higher temperatures. The biologists isolated proteins in the various plants through systems biology and bioinformatics techniques. They then mutated the proteins and found that the process rid the plant of its ability to respond to CO2 stress. This would prevent plants from losing stomatal pores.
The biologists hope their research will help farmers and others in the agricultural industry endure the current issues posed by climate change. You can read more about their research here.